Recent reviews by Swift Like Treacle

IF YOU RECENTLY POSTED A NEGATIVE REVIEW MAYBE CHANGE IT?

Despite the recent (resolved) controversy surrounding this game, would absolutely recommend this title. Everything about this, from mechanics to music, screams a labour of love. This is probably the first game in a decade I have felt genuine elation when I discover some new enemy or mechanic. Sci-fi for the soul.

Open world RPG where you slay dragons. But made by Germans ;) Highly recommend.

Exanima: Drunken Peasant Fight Arena Review

Ok, there's a bit more to it than that. Firstly, this game is pretty hardcore and deals a lot of punishment for the smallest mistake. This game is NOT REALLY COMPARABLE to Darksouls, the mechanics (of Exanima) stand firmly apart from the much beloved RPG. I have to say the story mode (dungeon crawler esque) is exceptionally tricky, and I as such will focus on Exanima's Arena Mode.

The Arena is a great way to get familiar with Exanima before attempting the challenging story mode. You have a manager (PC who can fight) who governs a roster of recruitable PCs (who you can control in fights) and hireable NPCs (who you can send into fights on their own, or use them as support in 2v2s or 3v3s). The user interface is a little convoluted, but mainly based around drag and drop of items and character names.

Combat is fast paced, and makes thorough use of your WASD keys and your cursor placement. Positioning and timing is key, treat combat like a hack and slash and even the "Inept" ranked fighters will mince you. There is a heavy amount of ragdoll physics involved in combat, but not in a way that feels silly or goofy, which I found very enjoyable. The feel of combat is pretty easy to grasp, but perfecting it is the real challenge. I can best describe the overall combat experience as: "Brutal Stumbling". Climbing up through the ranks to access better gear feels rewarding and the armours look badass.

I would recommend both this game and NOT risking your manager PC's ass in the ring :)

Battle Brothers in reminiscent (perhaps strangely) of Mount and Blade. The idea is similar, use your band of warriors to complete quests, earn better gear and troops, then fight bigger better challenges! Battle Brothers executes this exceptionally well, the quests are neat and can contain surprising twists and turns. Even double pay! Yay! Combat is pretty straightforward, yet challenging enough to make you consider every maneuver with great care. Gear matters greatly, though the quality of your troops carries more weight in my opinion. However, there are two significant limitations to this game. Firstly, you cannot yet interact in any great depth with the Houses which control regions in the game. Occassional house specific quests, but nothing else. Secondly, enemies in this game are not yet too varied. I have found myself performing hunting quests and it seems the only damn creatures that mutilate townsfolk and livestock are bloody direwolves! Sigh.

So, to recap!

Pros:
+Reminds me of Mount and Blade
+Quests are full of surprises
+Fun RPG elements
+Dynamics of combat are enjoyable

Cons
-Noble houses need to pay my orc slaying super-company more attention.
-Direwolves and Wiedergangers for days.